Detective To Start Work In March

Police Chief Cites Town's Commercial Growth

CANTON — The police department will have a detective soon to pare a stack of outstanding arrest warrants and pursue investigations both in town and outside Canton's borders.

Officer John Colangelo is to start his new job on March 7. The appointment was driven in part by the need to track down out-of-town suspects, Police Chief Lowell Humphrey said Wednesday.

About 60 arrest warrants are on file now, Humphrey said. Other police departments have helped serve Canton's warrants, Humphrey said, but those departments do not focus on the cases like a Canton police detective would.

Another factor behind the appointment is the town's growth. With major retail stores going into the Shoppes at Farmington Valley and other places along Route 44, police expect more crimes such as bad checks and credit card fraud, Humphrey said.

The department had a detective when Humphrey came on the force in 1976, he said, and until about two years ago, when staffing constraints forced administrators to leave the job vacant. About 1 1/2 years ago, the department pursued and won a $75,000 federal grant that helped pay for an additional officer. With that 15th sworn officer now fully trained, the department was again able to fill the detective's position, Humphrey said. As of March 7, the department's sworn force will consist of the chief, the deputy chief, four sergeants, eight patrol officers and a detective.

Colangelo, one of four officers who took written and oral tests for the detective's position, ``is a thorough and proactive investigator,'' Humphrey said. He is 33, grew up in Litchfield, is married and has been with the department for about seven years. Before that Colangelo served as a constable in both Woodbury and Washington, Conn.

He has been trained in many kinds of police work, Colangelo said Wednesday, including narcotics, crime scenes and stolen vehicle and computer crime investigations. He is a member of the regional emergency services team, sometimes referred to as the SWAT team. He has an associate's degree in criminal justice from Tunxis Community College in Farmington.

Colangelo said he's enthusiastic about his new job and looking forward to working with his fellow officers.